City/Build Boston

Abby Gordon of map-lab is the program coordinator for City/Build, a curriculum enrichment program for Boston high school students that focuses on the fields of design, development, and construction. The program is intended to generate career motivation and opportunities for Boston youth as well as interest in their urban community through interactive lessons on current development sites. From 1989-2004, City/Build served over 1,400 Students.

 

In 2010 City/Build was reinstated in Boston’s urban education system. City/Build is operating a pilot program at the John D. O’Bryant School of Math & Science in Roxbury. The 20 students in Mr. Munsey’s 9th and 10th grade honors geometry class are fortunate to be sponsored by Turner Construction’s Genzyme Phase Two project.

 

Students are first introduced to development, design, and construction through skill-building lessons and hands on activities. Students gain understanding of these professions, as well as the context under which urban development takes place. During the overview portion of the program the students learn about the design process through building schematic models for clients developed by their peers and worked on their presentation skills. map-lab’s David Silverman worked with the students on a bridge building activity that challenged them to build a structure to support textbooks using supplies of which each are assigned a monetary value. This encouraged the students to think about financing and how to build a sturdy structure within a limited budget.

 

Students are introduced to positive initiatives in the neighborhood of their school. Since many students do not live in the same area of their school, they are also asked to look for positive examples of development in their own neighborhood. Understanding how neighborhoods develop allows students to gain perspective on the impact buildings have and the diversity of professions that collaborate to create our built environment. map- lab’s Stephen Moore and YouthBuild Boston’s Mike Chavez discussed sustainable design, urban development and the Roxbury neighborhood with the students. This generated conversations about positive assets near their school and how they can make a difference in their local communities through their daily actions.

 

 

Representatives from the construction team will came to the classroom to discuss the challenges they faced during the building process. The students spent a day on the construction site seeing first hand the amount of work and diversity of professions involved in the building process.

The session concludes with a final design project, in which the students are broken up into teams and paired with a mentor. The Final Projects reflect students' lessons on design and development. The Final projects may relate to the local neighborhood, school or the partner's site, allowing students to express their personal interest.